Fixed Appointments
by nyahchatnoir
Summary: AU. One is a happy-go-lucky psychiatrist. The other is her unhappy, not so lucky patient. Between their one hour sessions and a couple of chance meetings out of the office, it's a wonder that her joy hasn't rubbed off on him yet. Or has it? A JoyxFear story about discovering bonds that can make even the most cowardly of men brave. A little bit of DisgustxAnger and SadnessxBingBong.


**PSA: All of Riley's emotions will have human names in this story, but it will be super easy to tell who is who so don't worry! The main couple in this story is definitely FearxJoy, but a bit of AngerxDisgust and SadnessxBing-Bong will most likely be found somewhere within this. Now, enough about that.**

 **Copyright note: All of the characters from Inside Out belong to Disney and Pixar. I mean, like I ****would actually** **own it. I'm completely broke and about the be in college. Anyways, enjoy!**

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*Prologue*

 **Five Years Earlier**

"They said that it couldn't be done, Sadie."

"I know Joy."

"They said that it was impossible. They said that I was _crazy_."

Sadie sighed at her much thinner and energetic cousin, Joy. She rolled her eyes, turning to stare up at the large building in front of her with a slightly awed expression. No matter how proud she currently was of her cousin's achievements, the larger female could definitely live without the senseless dramatics of her younger cousin's gloating.

Still, Joy continued on and on, proudly announcing her successes to the world. The briefcase that she held in her hand jiggled uselessly, as she began to bounce precariously on the balls of her feet.

"They said I was nuts. Ha-ha, nuts! Well, I showed them. I showed all of them! Now look out world, Dr. Joy Dee Light is here to stay, and San Francisco I am ready to play!"

Her cousin let out a moan of frustration, as she slowly slunk up behind her to place a placating hand on the taller girl's shoulder. She held her down, forcing Joy to stop bouncing around like a complete fool in front of her establishment.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm proud of you Joy, but how does it look for a practitioner to be jumping like an idiot in front of her own place? At least do it on the inside-"

Joy gasped from beneath her up-reached hand and quickly left her cousin confusedly standing by herself, choosing to go open the locked entryway of her new doctor's office instead of being in the presence of her cousin.

Sighing, the shorter woman followed behind the joyful adult and mumbled under her breath, still smiling softly as she watched Joy quickly unlock the door of her soon-to-be quite amazing practice. Pride immediately swelled in her most usually depressed chest.

Overall, even if Joy saw the whole world with such childlike wonder, her cousin Sadie was truly proud of her accomplishments. It was no secret that the girl had always lived a hard life, beginning way back in middle school when both her mother and father died in a terrible car accident. She had been only but a young girl at the time, but through it all Joy had continued to smile. Even when it physically hurt her to smile, when her heart would beat in agony, the joyful woman had smiled, because she felt like she had to or no one else would. In her opinion, someone always needed to smile. This motto of her's made Sadie proud that her mother Riley, Joy's aunt, had taken her in as a child. Her mother loved Joy like a daughter, and the two women were practically sisters, as far as she was concerned, and Joy would absolutely agree.

"Hey Sadie, come jump with me!"

Joy's gleeful laughter shot through the woman's slight reverie and brought her back down to earth with a great body slam. Sadie let out a light chuckle, deciding to just hang out like a boring ol' sock outside of her cousin's building.

"Eh, I don't think I feel like it. I think I may be in one of my moods again."

"Aww," Joy loudly complained, "Come on, can't you at least come in and celebratory jump with me? Come on, the cushions are fine! Plus the floor is lavaaaa!"

The way that Joy sang the last word of her sentence made Sadie crack a small grin. Well, maybe she could break social protocol for at least today… The joking tug of Joy's request lulled her into the entryway of Joy's establishment, and the younger woman brightened when she saw her timid cousin carefully walk into the waiting room of her soon-to-be-fabulous doctor's office.

She grinned encouragingly.

"Now that's the spirit! Here, follow me!"

Joy hopped down from her spot on the cushion and skipped jovially toward Sadie, jumping on a precarious path of pillows until she made it over to her favorite relative. Grinning unhealthily, the blue eyed woman's gaze twinkled, as she took hold of Sadie's hand and led her further into the room. Hopping once, she looked back over her shoulder at her cousin and squeezed her hand. Then she let go, laughing as she started to hop away from her at a dangerously fast pace.

"Catch me Sadiepuss, but don't fall in the lava!"

At her call, Sadie let out a playful scoff and gave a slow, careful jump onto a comfy cushion.

"No fair Joy, you gave yourself a head start!"

"Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater. Guess I'm eating pumpkin tonight!"

The cheerful grin in Joy's voice made Sadie smile, and she jumped further into the room, gradually loosing herself in the game. The pillows were rock formations. The couches were land. The floor was hot, molten lava that would surely melt your legs off. Soon enough Sadie was hurriedly, albeit a bit wobbly, moving around the room as Joy tactfully skipped away from her.

"Can't catch me!"

Through her laughter, Sadie yelled, "But Joy, what about you pillows?"

The younger girl faltered for a moment, before she thoughtlessly shrugged and tapped her cousin's shoulders. As Sadie confusedly turned, Joy jumped away, picking up a pillow and throwing it in her cousin's face as she fell down to the floor with a dull, hard thud.

"Ahhhh, screaming. Burning! That was my last shot… At least I died doing what I loved."

Sadie stared with a look of mock annoyance, as her cousin pretended to sink into the padded, polka dotted pink carpet. Twisting on the floor, Joy let out a few fake cries, before she threw up a thumb and lowered her voice to a deep baritone.

"I'll be back."

Then, Joy threw her arm down onto the floor and laid motionless for a long moment. Sadie watched on, moving her gaze to stare boredly at the empty space in front of her. She then raised a brow, before bending down to pick up a soft rock a.k.a pillow and throwing it at Joy's face. Her cousin's eyes opened instantaneously.

"And scene," she murmured to herself, grinning up at the woman that was practically her sister.

Joy quickly grabbed the pillow that had been thrown at her and hugged it close to her chest, smiling almost dreamily at Sadie. Her eyes lidded in pure bliss.

"Isn't is absolutely wonderful?" she heard herself ask.

"First I got the degree, and now I have the business. It's all I could have ever hoped for."

From above her, Sadie nodded and murmured a small, "Yeah."

Steadily calming herself down, the darker blue-eyed female lowered herself onto the soft carpet, and laid so that she was lying arm-to-arm with her cousin. She took in a deep breath, craning her neck to stare dubiously at her younger cousin. She would never tell this to anyone, but Sadie was seriously worried about her cousin. If anyone had been through a lot, it was Joy, and Joy deserved to be happy more than anyone. Joy was joyful, and she was certainly not selfish. She deserved happiness no matter what, even if she would fervently disagree with the idea if it was ever brought up.

No, what Joy wanted more than her own happiness was to bring out the happiness in others, people who were much less emotionally fortunate than herself, and she knew without a doubt that she could do that. She had the personal skills and the heart to be able to help others. This is why the beautiful woman had went into the career of psychiatry. She wanted to help people, and Sadie had no qualms with Joy's ability to do that.

What worried Sadie more than anything was that there was no one who could help Joy.

Her cousin needed someone who would listen to her; a companion who would care for her. She needed someone who she could experience life with, have fun, and just learn and grow from.

As Sadie laid there, gently lent against her best friend in the entire world, she sent a silent prayer to whatever power was listening above her, if there even was one.

 _Please, oh please, just let there be someone out there for Joy._

All that Sadie wanted was someone who could come along and help Joy before the poor woman ever thought about trying to help herself...

A smile can only last for so long, after all.

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 **Well, I hope that you find it interesting! Also, this is a prologue so there is definitely more to come with this story. Remember to please give a review and stay tuned, friends! (:  
**


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